House of Freaks
by FailKitten13
Summary: A circus AU: AceXVivi-centric story, with hints of SanjiXVivi, NamiXVivi, and OCXVivi here and there. Vivi wakes up one day to find herself being thrown into a cell with two oddballs. She finds she has to be a part of their magic act ,but that's the least of her worries as she learns more and more about the house of freaks. (Hetalia characters are minor but still important.)
1. Prologue

How, oh how did I get myself into this situation?  
I was just like a frightened child as I was led past the trailers, tents, and animal cages. My violet eyes were wide open, taking in everything. I suppose the biggest thing that frightened me was the fact that most of these animal cages held people in them.  
Eventually, when I was certain I'd seen enough to make me throw up, I myself was thrown into a cage. I wanted nothing more than to keep to myself in a corner of the dreadful thing, but I was stuck with two cellmates who were all too eager to get to know this new intrusion upon their lives.  
First was a blonde man smoking a cigarette and displaying a smile I didn't appreciate too much, and accompanying him was a redheaded girl with brown eyes and a concerned look. She was showing a lot of skin.  
"Why, hello there, angel," the man greeted, offering his hand to me. "You must be the other assistant I've been promised. My name is Sanji."  
At my reluctance to take his hand or say anything in return, he continued, "Don't be afraid: I won't bite."  
The woman with him shoved him forcefully away from me.  
"Don't get up in her face right away! She's scared and probably doesn't know what's going on!"  
She turned her attention back to me, her big brown eyes softening once they weren't looking at Sanji.  
"I'm Nami. Everything will be explained to you soon, I promise. But, until then, do you mind telling us your name?"  
"...Vivi," I replied quietly after much hesitation. "My name is Vivi."


	2. Barcelona's Secret

It was a circus. I had suspected as much when I'd arrived and was surrounded by garrish tents and the like, but everything about it seemed wrong. Certainly, at first it was a relatively normal circus. There was a knife thrower - a girl named Natalya with her sister Yeketerina as the target - , a sword swallower - a scary-looking man named Zoro - , an acrobatics team - quite a few lovely people I'll have to introduce later - , and a beast tamer - an even more intimidating man everyone called Sir Crocodile, and it didn't take me long to figure out why.  
There was even a magician. That was Sanji, and Nami and I were evidently his 'two lovely assistants'. However, the tour took a rather dark turn when Sanji nonchalantly led me and Nami to the House of Freaks.  
As a child, I'd always avoided the House of Freaks at the circus. I wasn't one to enjoy laughing at others' misfortunes, and having it described to me was quite enough. However, I was well aware of the sort of things they usually showed in a House of Freaks: Dog people, hunchbacks, et cetera.  
This was no normal House of Freaks.  
I brought my hand to my mouth as I looked around at the busy room. A rubber man, a man who kept setting himself on fire without any consequences, a woman who could sprout her limbs from anywhere she wanted, and many more people I could hardly keep track of were rushing about and getting things ready for their little show.  
"How...how did any of this...how is this possible?" I managed.  
Sanji looked at me, puzzlement on his face.  
"Barcelona tells us they're regular birth defects, but we all call it 'Barcelona's Secret'."  
"This...this Barcelona did this to these people? And puts them on as a laughingstock?"  
"They're perfectly happy..." Sanji told me, sounding confused by my concern for these people.  
"Maybe the House of Freaks wasn't the best place to take her," Nami suggested as she put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me away from the room. "It's okay, Vivi. I'm sure they'll want to meet you later, but I understand that not everyone's ready to see all of this on their first day."  
"Oh, right! Nami!"  
Nami turned to look at the magician. "What do you want?"  
"Go get ready, and help Vivi, too. We only have three hours to practice our act!"  
"Fine," Nami sighed with a roll of her eyes before taking me out of the room.


	3. Practice Spares Peril

"Nami, I don't know if I can go out and perform in front of all those people...especially not dressed up like this..." I informed my fellow assistant, my cheeks heating up as I tried to make the outfit less revealing.  
It was everything you could expect from a magician's assistant outfit - or perhaps a magician-themed stripper outfit - , looking like some sort of tuxedo-leotard hybrid with fishnets beneath it.  
"You have to, Vivi, for your sake."  
I furrowed my brow.  
"For my sake?"  
"Vivi..."  
Nami turned to me, her shirt still unbuttoned. I automatically turned away out of respect for her boundaries.  
"Vivi, look."  
Reluctantly, I turned my attention back to her.  
There was a huge, perfectly straight scar spanning across her stomach right above her belly button.  
"The first time I came here, I didn't want to do anything they told me, either."  
She buttoned up her tuxedo, seeming to not want to say anything else on the matter.  
"How...how did that happen?"  
"Let's just say it was a warning. It was excruciating, and it took them half an hour to get it to look the way they wanted it to. I don't want that to happen to you. So, just do your job and keep your head straight."  
I bit my lip and nodded. The end of that sounded like a threat from Nami, but I didn't prod any further. I took a deep breath and followed Nami backstage, where Sanji was waiting for us. Did Sanji do that to her? He seemed so sweet and caring towards her, if a bit clueless. I couldn't imagine him laying a hand on her.  
"You're looking lovely as usual, Nami; and, Vivi, you're even more of a vision than I could ever have imagined!"  
I looked down at the floor awkwardly. "...Thanks..."  
Of course, there was the fact he seemed quite a bit like a pervert beneath it all. There was no telling what was going on in his mind, after all.  
"I do...want to ask something before we start...?" I added uncertainly before he could begin teaching me in the ways of an assistant.  
"Go right on ahead, my dear. I'm all ears."  
"I'm not getting sawed in half, am I?"  
Maybe that was what happened to Nami, and she had been lying to me before. I felt bad for admitting it, but I didn't trust any of these people no matter how nice they were being to me.  
Sanji chuckled before answering me. "No, of course not. You're only just starting. Leave the harder stuff like that to Nami: She has more experience."  
I let out a small sigh of relief. I knew all about magic tricks and such, but I still couldn't see myself remaining calm with a saw so close to me.  
"So...what will I be doing, then?" I followed up.  
"I was about to tell you," he stated with a small grin. "You'll mostly do dramatic gestures to me and Nami. There's one trick you'll be involved in, though, so I'll show you that first."  
There wasn't much to my act. It was a simple disappearing act where I stepped into the box and, well, disappeared. I was, of course, able to handle this small task, and nailed my little gesturing and looking attractive in general job pretty fast as well(I had forgotten about the crowd momentarily).  
Sanji was impressed with my progress on such short notice and let me take a break from practice. I was to be back in an hour, so I had that much time to work on my stage fright. The more I thought about it, the harder it was to believe I was actually going through with this. So, I shut the crowd out of my mind as I sat outside the big top and sighed. I planned to close my eyes and think of what I was going to do, but someone sat next to me.  
I'd wanted to be alone, but I also didn't want to be so rude as to up and leave right as soon as the person had sat down. So, I looked up slowly to make sure it wasn't anyone I should have been afraid of.  
Next to me sat a young man maybe a little older than me with black hair and brown eyes. More prominent features, though, were probably his freckles and the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Something about him seemed familiar, and I didn't like that feeling. I could feel myself growing slightly nautious.  
"Hey, there," he greeted, his friendly and kind-sounding voice causing my fears and suspicions to fade almost all at once. "You're the new girl, am I right? I saw you taking the tour with Sanji earlier. Are you that new assistant he needed?"  
I nodded slowly.  
"Geez; sorry. I know how that guy gets. He means well, but he's hard to get along with."  
I smiled slightly. "You seem to know a lot about this little...community."  
"Yep," he replied with a grin. "Been here for years; I was one of the first guys Mistress Barcelona hired into her circus."  
"Were you kidnapped, too?"  
He seemed thoughtful about that question.  
"Nope. Not really. None of the first ones here were. Her first few performers were me, Sanji, Moscow, Crocodile, Alfred, and Zoro."  
"...What is your name?"  
"I'm Ace. Sorry about that. I guess I forgot to get your name, too."  
"I'm Vivi."  
"Nice to meet you, Vivi. I hope you like it here."  
"Ace?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Since you were one of the first...could you maybe tell me why I was brought here? I didn't do anything to upset the owner, did I?"  
He chuckled, ruffled my hair as though I were a small innocent child, and stood up.  
"Nope. She rarely takes people who offend her. She just has them killed if she doesn't do it herself. No, she takes people she likes the look of. Guess you didn't really luck out by being cute, after all."  
"Is...is that really the reason I'm here? Barcelona thought..."  
I couldn't finish my thought. It was embarrassing to me.  
"Yep. You have a cute face, so she took you."  
I frowned. I had no idea how to get out of this. Maybe I could get into an accident? I was sure Crocodile's crocodiles could maim me just enough to get me kicked out of there in a heartbeat. Of course, that was far too painful and life-threatening. Then again, for all I knew, so was the circus.  
I looked up to see Ace heading in another direction. Impulsively, I stood to follow him. I wanted to know more about this place, and I felt I could trust him more than I could the creepy magician.  
"Ace, wait!"  
He turned to look at me with a puzzled expression. "What is it?"  
"I want to learn more about this place."  
He chuckled. "That's Sanji's job."  
"Well, you were one of the first here, too!"  
"Yeah, but I didn't get put in charge of you."  
I frowned. "Can I just hang out with you and ask questions, then?"  
"Look, Vivi, Sanji isn't all that bad to be around. He won't go beyond ogling and flirting unless you give him permission."  
"Ace..."  
"Vivi, stop. Just take it from me: I'm not who you want to hang around, alright? I'll see you around, but I wouldn't make it a habit to follow me around if I were you."  
Vivi sighed. "...Fine. I guess I'll talk to you later, then."  
He smiled at her. "Definitely," was the last thing he said before he disappeared again.


	4. Sleep

The cell door was open. Who left it open? Was someone helping me escape? That had to have been why I was awake at just the right time. I glanced over at Nami, who was sound asleep. Sanji wasn't even visible between the darkness and the covers. They could stay if they wanted to, but I was out of there. I missed my family greatly, even though I'd only been gone a short time.  
Feet met the cold dirt before me as I took my first steps to freedom. I could hear a few voices coming from inside the big top, and I resolved to avoid them. From what I could tell, there were six men and two women in there.  
Unfortunately, I was going to have to chance one of them seeing me: The entrance to the big top was not only wide open, it was standing between me and the exit from this hell. I cautiously side-stepped over to the entryway, taking a glimpse into the tent. I furrowed my brow.  
Inside were Ace, a strange man, Crocodile, Sanji, Zoro, and Alfred. They were accompanied by a woman I had never seen before and seemed to be standing in a circle around someone I could barely see. What were those guys doing in there? That question pushed the matter of my escape to the back of my mind momentarily as I continued to watch in fascination.  
"It doesn't look like that strong will of yours has really gotten you anywhere, Natalya," the woman remarked, seeming disappointed. "But were you really surprised? This is how it ended up last time. It's a shame, too: Your feistiness was one of your greatest qualities. It's just too bad we'll have to tear it out of you."  
The woman, her voice marked by a light Spanish accent, turned and began to walk around her circle. I caught a glimpse of Natalya's horrified face. It scared me: Natalya's face hardly ever gave way to emotion. Just what was this woman doing to her? She didn't seem like she'd been hurt beyond being knocked on the ground and getting a little dirty.  
After a seemingly endless few seconds of the woman strutting around the motionless circle of men, she stopped at Alfred. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder before leaning in and whispering something to him. Alfred seemed to snap out of some sort of trance right there. He stumbled back ever so slightly before he lunged at Natalya.  
I whipped my head back around the corner before I could see anything else happening. As I backed away from the big top, I could hear the woman chuckling about how fitting a choice Alfred was to attack Natalya. The taunt was punctuated by a loud scream from the knife-thrower.  
I stumbled slightly, running back to the cell that was looking more and more comforting as I drew nearer. I burrowed myself into my sleeping bag, praying quietly that no one had seen me up.  
I had no clue what I had seen in there, but one thing was for sure: Alfred would never in a million years hurt Natalya on purpose like he did. Some sort of evil was at work in his head or something. I stayed awake all night wondering if it was another of Barcelona's secrets.


	5. Too Curious

"Nami," I started shakily as the two of us dressed for the show.  
Nami seemed surprised, and for a good reason. I hadn't said a word to anyone all morning.  
"What is it, Vivi?" she prodded her voice revealing how important she knew this was. "What's the matter?"  
"...Have you ever seen the...owner? The ringmaster?"  
She glanced down momentarily. "Vivi, don't start in on the weird questions now."  
"Have you?"  
"I...yes. I have," she sighed. "But I don't want to talk about it. Why would you ask me a question like that anyway?"  
"Was she Spanish with long hair?"  
Nami gave me a wide-eyed stare. She seemed genuinely worried about me simply because of that description I'd given her.  
"...Vivi, what happned to you last night? What did you do?"  
"I'm right, aren't I? That woman I saw was Barcelona."  
"How the hell did you see Barcelona?" Nami demanded.  
I looked up into her eyes, and they held within them an odd mixture of curiosity and dread.  
"I...Nami...the cage door was open last night, and I woke up...so I...I snuck out. I was headed to the gate, but there were people in the big top, so I had to wait. She wasn't alone in there. She had Alfred, Ace, Crocodile, Sanji, Zoro, and a weird zombie-looking man. They were...they had Natalya surrounded...and...and she sent Alfred after her...and she was laughing."  
I had never seen Nami look so horrified, nor did I expect it.  
"She didn't see you, did she? Tell me no one saw you!"  
"No one saw me...I promise."  
I wasn't very confident in my words.  
"Nami..." I continued after a moment of silence between the two of us, "...is that what happened to you?"  
Nami put her top hat on. "We have to get going. Sanji's waiting for us."  
Sanji...  
I shivered as I remembered how he looked the previous night. If I even had the smallest amount of trust in Sanji, it was gone. What if Barcelona had whispered in his ear like that?  
I hesitated a moment before following Nami out of the tent. She was already backstage by that time, and I was about to follow suit before I was stopped by a strange voice sounding behind me.  
"Aren't you a curious one?"  
I spun to see who it was, but I took a blow to the head before I could get a clear view of the man.


	6. Amnesia

The blow had, as anyone could assume, knocked me out cold. When I came to, I was in a completely new place, my clothes covered in dirt. Whoever that guy was probably dragged me through the dirt to get me there. I sat up slowly, a twinge of sharp pain shooting through my head at the movement. Groaning, I placed a hand to my forehead in the hopes of soothing the headache. I tried not to move my head while getting a look at my surroundings. I seemed to be in a very small room. In fact, it was more like a section of a tent with a small cot in it than a room, really.  
I looked around until I saw the little opening in the room. There was a man guarding the opening. He was very strange-looking from behind, with his pink hair and pale grey flesh. I recognised these traits to be the same as the strange man in the big top the previous night, and I remembered that he looked even weirder from the front. I shivered, for he resembled a corpse.  
He turned as though he had felt me wake up, and our gazes were locked onto each other for a rather horrifying few seconds before he spoke.  
"Welcome to the waking world, Vivi," he greeted, his words seasoned with a sort of aristocratic accent. "Mistress Barcelona has been waiting for you to wake up, and she is not a very patient woman. We must go to her now."  
I certainly didn't want to argue with the man, since I was sure he could do to me what Alfred did to Natalya if I messed with him. So, I was stuck sliding off the cot and following him out to another section of this tent.  
We came quickly to this other section, which was adorned mainly with a desk and a large chair. Behind the desk and in the large chair sat the woman from the big top, smirking knowingly at me.  
"You've done your job, Moscow," she directed towards my little guide. "Go take a break. I'll call if I need anything."  
"As you wish, Milady," he replied flatly, leaving the room.  
"Oh, you're shaking, Vivi," Barcelona noted. "I haven't even begun talking, yet."  
"Please, ma'am, I didn't mean to see anything, I swear it! Please - "  
"Calm down, Vivi. I've only brought you here to issue a warning. I'm a fair woman. So, just so we're on the same page, you know attempting escape is very bad?"  
"Yes, yes, I understand. It won't happen again, I promise."  
"Very good. I trust you can find your way back to the big top if I let you go from here?"  
"You aren't going to knock me out again?"  
"Of course not. I only did it the first time around because it was more dramatic that way."  
"...Alright...then..."  
"So, no more sneaking around. Right?"  
"Right."  
"What are you not going to do?"  
"...Sneak around...?"  
"Good girl." Barcelona smirked again. "Go: Run along. I'm sure Sanji's wondering where the hell you are by now."  
I couldn't have gotten out of there faster if I'd tried, I'm sure. Barcelona was a little wacky, that was true. But, wacky or not, nothing could erase that memory I had of her laughing at Natalya as Alfred attacked her mercilessly.  
"Where have you been, Vivi?" Sanji asked as I strode backstage.  
Nami was considerably pale, as if she knew.  
"I...I guess I just got lost. That's all."  
Sanji chuckled. "That's alright. We still have plenty of time to practice."  
That we did, actually. I supposed that was thanks to the schedule: Our act wasn't even on that day. So, I was free to roam among the tents at my leisure. Still, I felt like I was walking on eggshells as I approached the knife thrower.  
Natalya turned to me, her right eye hidden behind an ice pack that had been fastened to her head to keep her hands free.  
"Hello, Natalya," I greeted cautiously.  
"It's the new girl? What is it you want?" she responded monotonously, speaking with a thick Slavic accent.  
"I just...wanted to come see how you were feeling."  
"I have a headache," she said simply.  
"Where is Alfred?"  
She twitched.  
"He's getting dressed. If you want to talk to him, you have to wait."  
I nodded to her, and we sat in awkward silence until Alfred emerged from a tent flap nearby.  
"Hey, Vivi!" he greeted cheerfully. "What are you doing over here?"  
"I was actually hoping I could talk to you," I replied.  
"Sure. What do you need, babe? I aim to please!"  
"Can we go somewhere where we can talk alone?" I continued, not thinking of the implications.  
"Vivi, this is sudden!"  
"Just come on!"  
"Fine, geez. Sorry."  
I led him away from the tents to stand, instead, among the cages we all slept in at night.  
"What's on your mind, kiddo?" he asked cheerfully when we stopped walking.  
"I, uh...I'm just...I'm curious. I want to know if you...know what happened to Natalya?"  
Asking him what happened the night before didn't seem like it would make a lot of sense. Focusing my attention on Natalya seemed like the way to go.  
Alfred shrugged and shook his head.  
"I've been trying to ask her, but she's been avoiding talking to me more than usual," he answered, frowning. "I'm really worried about her. She normally at least shoots me some kind of smartass comment or something, but she just seems reluctant to see me anymore. Why? Do you know what happened?"  
Suddenly, the attention was turned right back to me. I furrowed my brow. I had at least some understanding of how fond Alfred was of Natalya, and I didn't want to devastate him with the truth. The only thing I could think of that would be worse would be to tell Sanji what he did to Nami however long ago that incident was.  
So, I wound up shaking my head.  
"No. I...I just...I'm worried about Natalya, too. I thought you would know since you guys work together."  
Alfred shrugged again.  
"Maybe she'll open up and tell me later. Need anything else?"  
I shook my head once more. "No. Maybe I'll ask Yeketerina or something."  
"Alright. See you later, Vivi."  
I smiled as we separated, absentmindedly bumping into someone within minutes. I looked up and was greeted by a very familiar, freckled, and friendly face. My smile only grew.  
"Heya, Vivi," Ace greeted. "Got separated from the others?"  
"Actually, we don't have to work anymore today."  
I felt like I was going to add something to that comment[though, I wasn't sure exactly what]when I remembered something rather devastating.  
Everything friendly and safe about Ace's face seemed to melt away into what I'd seen the night before. He'd looked just like all of the others. I shivered slightly, my throat seeming to swell.  
"What's wrong, Vivi? You alright?"  
I was brought back to reality by his voice, and suddenly that image seemed to vanish just enough to leave it's horrifying presence in my subconscious.  
"I...yeah, I'm fine. Thanks."  
"You seem off. Did something happen?"  
I shook my head. "I'm just preoccupied with some things. Like, Natalya. She got hurt."  
"Really? What happened?"  
I shrugged. Lying seemed to be coming easier to me the more I did it. I reasoned rather quickly that Ace was there the previous night, too, and wouldn't like being told he was also under Barcelona's spell.  
"Hey, I don't see you around much," I said quickly to change the subject. "What's your job in the circuis?"  
Now it was Ace's turn to seem hesitant.  
"Eh...it's complicated. Maybe I'll show you another day."  
The image came back. Why was Ace acting this way? Was he perfectly aware of what was happening? You imagined Ace collaborating with Barcelona and shivered again.  
"Why can't you just tell me?"  
"Because I have to go back to work. I don't get a lot of breaks," he laughed.  
The excuse seemed to come so easily to him, and I was only getting more and more suspicious.


	7. First Steps

Barcelona had shown herself to her entire group of performers - a sight that was evidently quite rare to all of us, so we were all ogling[some, like Sanji, more than others].  
"Alright, everyone, this is it: We've prepared all year for these three days. Now, I understand some of you won't be able to perform tonight. However, those of you who don't get to shine the first day, still have a chance the second and thrid days. So, don't worry. Besides, everyone who doesn't go on stage has the opportunity to sit in the audience and watch the show themselves!" she broadcast charismatically. "To everyone in the House of Freaks: You'll be working all three days. Yay! Be sure you put on your best acts!"  
The corpse-looking man[who I'd figured was Moscow]stepped forward to continue speaking for the ringmistress.  
"No one will be coming for a few hours. However, that does not mean we are to slack off."  
Moscow had more of a professional air about him and spoke with more intelligence than that of his boss.  
"When I step off of this stage, I want everyone to clear a path for the Freaks so that they may follow me. I will be getting them into their places and making sure they have their acts nailed down. I expect the rest of you to do the same for yourselves. Barcelona will stay on the stage and dismiss each of you by group, and I expect you to leave in the same orderly fashion as the House of Freaks."  
With that, Moscow stepped off the stage. I watched with both interest and something akin to fear as the 'House of Freaks' filed past the rest of us. I thought I'd glimpsed someone familiar, but someone in the regular crowd moved and blocked my view.  
It seemed ages before Barcelona dismissed the magicians, and Sanji gently nudged me and Nami out of the room.  
"We aren't going on tonight," he old us, though we were all perfectly aware of this. "What do you all want to do?"  
"I'm going to visit the rest of the circuis. I'm not going to waste my day off watching other people do things I've seen them do thousands of times," Nami responded immediately.  
It never occurred to me that there might be other attractions at the circuis, but I could recall them from my early visits.  
"What do you say, Vivi? You coming with me?"  
I nodded before I registered the question, really. It seemed like a good idea to spend my day with Nami. At least, it seemed better than watching the show.  
"Hey, Nami...?"  
She turned back around, though I hadn't been aware she was already walking away.  
"Can we see the House of Freaks again?"  
She furrowed her brow.  
"Why do you want to do that?"  
"Well...I just...I feel like I overreacted the first day...I want to meet everyone in there."  
"You sure, Vivi? You just seem so...fragile...?"  
"I'll be fine."


End file.
